Soufflé
by Winter's Melancholy
Summary: Koko tries his hand at baking. The poor, poor kitchen. AU. Rated T for language.


**_Disclaimed._**

* * *

"God, Koko. It's _hot _in here_. Really _hot_._ How long do you want to have me sit here?"

"Just wait a while longer, please?"

"Yeah, yeah. What did you call me over for, anyway? The kitchen has smelled weird all morning. Are you cooking?"

"I'm making a soufflé."

"_You_? _Baking_?"

"Don't _laugh_. You wanted Italian cuisine, didn't you?"

"Koko, the soufflé is _French. _French _pastry._"

"Ah, well, it's Italian enough to me."

'At least you got the _continent_ right…'

"Did you say something?"

"_Nope._ Are you done yet?"

"I'll be done in a jiffy!"

"Koko, I've been here since _eight in the morning._ It's going to be _noon_ in two minutes. The air conditioning's busted and I'm _dying_ of heatstroke in here. How much longer, again?"

"Fifteen minutes!"

* * *

"God, it took me _ages_ to master this recipe."

"You sound like you put a lot of work into it."

"Damn right I did."

"Ah, Koko, that's so sweet of you- was that the _oven _exploding? Is that the _smoke alarm_?"

"Eh, hehe, well… I guess I didn't really _master_ that recipe, after all…"

"Koko. _When_ did you start practicing for this?"

"I ripped the recipe off the internet yesterday evening."

"Koko-"

"Don't worry. I got this."

"Koko, soufflés aren't exactly the _easiest_ thing to bake…"

"Well, you _did_ want Italian…"

"Like I said, the soufflé is _French._"

"And like _I_ said, close enough…"

"Just… Forget it. Are you even anywhere n_ear_ done?"

"Let me just stir the eggs into the batter…"

"It hasn't even entered the oven yet?"

"Well, the first six tries failed…"

"_Six_?"

"I just dropped the eggs in without cracking them. Make that seven. _Silly me_!"

"Do you need help? It sounds like a disaster in there."

"I'm fine, I'm fine. Don't worry. I'll be done in another fifteen minutes."

"You told me that _half an hour_ ago. If you fail again I am going to _leave_."

'_Don'tfaildon'tfaildon'tfail_'

"Koko, did you say something?"

"Nope, batter's coming along fine!"

"Is the oven on?"

"Thanks."

"You forgot to turn the _oven _on?"

"Well, I forgot that I turned it off just now…"

"You know, now you have to wait for it to get preheated."

"Eh… thirty minutes more?"

"I will _strangle_ you if you're not done in thirty minutes, _Koko._"

"…Yes, Ma'am."

* * *

"You're done?"

"Yeah, timer's just ended."

"Koko, what kind of soufflé were you trying to bake again?"

"Chocolate."

"Koko, I don't smell chocolate."

"…I forgot to put it in."

"_Koko…_"

"It's fine! It's fine! I won't waste any more time. Vanilla soufflé's fine, isn't it?"

"…"

"What's with that sigh and glum face?"

"I _wanted _chocolate."

"Didn't you want Italian?"

"Shut up."

"Sure, sure. Here! One Italian soufflé, for the Princess."

"Koko, are you sure _this_ is a _soufflé_?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure it is."

"_Pretty_ sure?"

"Isn't soufflé Italian for _'sponge cake'_? I took the recipe for that off the web."

"Koko, soufflé is a _French_ word_. _And soufflé is most definitely _not_ French for 'sponge cake'."

"Eh…"

"Never mind…"

"Well, uh, I put lots of love into it?"

'_I sure hope my taste buds survive this…_'

"Sumire?"

"Koko…"

"Do you not like it?"

"Oh my god, Koko. Are you seriously _tearing up_?"

"You don't like it, do you?"

"Oh, uh_, no, no no!_ The cake's a most wonderful shade of _golden-brown._ It's just _perfect_."

"Eat it then!"

"Well… Um… It's a bit too pretty to be eaten…"

"Come on, just try it?"

"…"

* * *

"You all right in there?"

"Yeah, I'm _totally _all right. Not like I'm in the process of hurling out my breakfast or anything."

"It couldn't have been _that _bad…"

"Koko, there were _raw eggs_ in the batter. And it was half-baked. _And_ I could taste the flour. Did you _really _expect me not to gag?"

"Eh… I guess I should have taste-tested first."

"You _guess_?"

"Well…"

"Koko, what kind of _idiot_ gives his _girlfriend_ a half-baked sponge cake when she makes a request for _Italian_ cuisine?"

"I'm sorry…"

"Well… points for effort, I guess. You're _still_ an idiot_,_ though."

"Eh… I just managed to get a booking at that famous Italian deli down the road for lunch. My treat, to make up for this?"

"I guess I'll let you off the hook this time, then…"

"_Really_?"

"Yes, _dummy. _Let's go."

"Thank you for your mercy, _Divine Goddess._"

"I'm warning you, though. If you pull a stunt like that again I'm going to force you to eat _my pasta._"

"Jesus, Sumire. Anything but _that_."

"_Shut up_."

* * *

A/N: _Because (apparently) Sumire is canonically known as the one with the lack of culinary skill._

_Written with the prompts 'noon', and 'sponge cake'._


End file.
